


shave and taper

by achilleees



Category: Free!
Genre: 2016 Summer Olympics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2013-09-29
Packaged: 2017-12-27 23:32:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/984951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achilleees/pseuds/achilleees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>July 29, 2016</b>
</p><p>“Just think, babe. In four days, it's gonna be you and me and all the nude beaches in Rio.”</p><p>Haruka would probably be enjoying his time in the Olympic Village more if his boyfriend weren't cheating on him. Surprise, surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	shave and taper

**Author's Note:**

> I know this isn’t how housing at the Olympics works. I also juggled the timeline of swimming events at the Summer Olympics. I figure anyone who’s neurotic enough to actually care about that is – well, Michael Phelps. That’s it.
> 
> Go home, Michael.
> 
> Also, if you feel like it, play ‘spot the XKCD reference!’ (There’s only one, don’t hurt yourself).
> 
> I just got into Free! recently so I hope my characterizations aren’t too far off. Anyway, enjoy!

_In the context of sports, tapering refers to the practice of reducing exercise in the days just before an important competition. Tapering is customary in many endurance sports, such as the marathon, athletics, and swimming. For many athletes, a significant period of tapering is essential for optimal performance. The tapering period frequently lasts as much as a week or more._

_-        "Tapering," Wikipedia_

 

**July 29, 2016**

“Just think, babe. In four days, it's gonna be you and me and all the nude beaches in Rio.”

**August 2, 2016**

“I’m going to the pool.”

Normally Haruka wouldn’t have to say it, but that was because normally, Rin would have raced him there. Instead, Rin sprawled out on the folding chair on the balcony, flipping through a magazine.

Haruka hung by the door for a moment, waiting for Rin to – offer, he guessed. To invite himself along, really.

Rin looked up. “Have fun,” he said.

Haruka went.

**August 3, 2016**

The week before, Haruka had noticed that the Iwatobi-chan keychain clipped to Rin’s swimming bag was wearing out, paint peeling and one of its wingtips chipped at the end. He had dedicated some time to whittling a new one, intending to give it to Rin once they got to Rio.

It would help if he had _seen_ Rin since they got to Rio, barring a few minutes of crossover here and there as Haru was leaving and Rin was coming, or vice versa. Besides, he didn’t want to make it a big thing by demanding Rin sit still long enough for Haruka to hand him this cheap wooden trinket, like it was important.

So that morning, he left it on top of Rin’s swimming bag, where he would notice it before leaving for practice. When he woke up, he found a note on the desk that merely said ‘thanks’ in Rin’s uncharacteristically neat handwriting, with the older Iwatobi-chan laid on top of it.

For some reason, it didn’t make Haruka feel any better.

**August 4, 2016**

There was something weird about the ocean in Rio, Haruka suspected. Something funny about the water content, something not quite right.

It was painful, for one.

It wasn’t the first time he’d felt – rejected by water, like he wasn’t meant to be there. But it was the first time since reconciling with Rin and discovering who and what he swam for. This water, however warm, stung, and with each stroke he could feel it sloughing away his skin, scraping where it normally soothed.

 _You haven’t touched me in a week,_ he thought.

His arms pumped mechanically through the water. Drag, turn, breathe. Drag. Turn. Breathe.

_Why haven’t we fucked since we got here?_

Drag.

_You barely look at me anymore._

Turn.

 _When did you decide I wasn’t worth your time_?

Breathe.

_What did I do wrong?_

He choked on salt water.

There was something _wrong_ with the water in Rio.

**August 5, 2016**

Haruka sat at a beachside bar, chewing on a strip of fried mackerel as he watched the waves roll in with the tide.

Haruka wasn’t supposed to be staying in the Olympic village, technically. He wasn’t actually an athlete, though he practiced with them so much that half the team regularly forgot that little detail. But since he was part of the crew for the Japanese swimming team, and since he _definitely_ didn’t distract from their training, the coach had pulled some strings for Haruka to share a double with Rin.

Haruka hadn’t forgotten, though. He kept up with their training regimen, sure – he wore their jacket and he knew their facility like the back of his hand – but he didn’t swim their races.

Rin hadn’t forgotten either.

“Hey babe,” Rin had said. “I’m going to dinner in the Caf with some of the guys. We’re on this stupid fucking low-cal diet because – well, you know. Sorry you can’t come. Want me to bring you back something?”

Haruka didn’t. He didn’t want to eat in the athletes’ cafeteria, anyway. He didn’t want to eat pasta for every meal. He wasn’t an athlete; he didn’t have to carbo-load.

He wondered what Rin wanted for him.

Haruka had made his choice, not trying out for the Japanese Olympic swimming team. He could have done it, he was fully aware. His front crawl was still faster than Rin’s when he was in shape.

But that wasn’t the point, for him. It wasn’t the same, to swim for a medal, to relay with a bunch of guys he barely knew.

Besides, he couldn’t live out Rin’s dream for him, at the expense of Rin’s own. Even though Rin had told him a hundred times that he wanted Haruka there, that he wanted to swim with him, that medalling in the Olympics would have meant more if Haruka were there on the podium with him.

And now Haruka wondered if he had made a mistake.

Maybe Rin wouldn’t be breaking away from him, if Haruka were swimming in the next lane over.

**August 6, 2016**

A muffled voice broke Haruka out of his lull, and he stirred from the bath. _Rin_. He stood and wrapped a towel around his waist, not bothering to dry his hair or chest as he slipped out of the bathroom.

Rin was pacing in the bedroom, talking on his cell. Haruka almost went to catch his attention, but at that moment, Rin groaned into the phone, “Fuck, I am _so horny_. Are you busy?”

Haruka froze.

“We could, but he’s always around. It makes it hard, you know?” Rin scratched behind his ear.

Something very cold and _very_ painful settled in the pit of Haruka’s stomach.

“Great.” Rin grinned. “I’ll be at your room in 10.” He hung up and started rummaging around in his suitcase.

Haruka dredged up the willpower to walk out into the bedroom, though each step was like wading through molasses – or rather, molasses mixed with broken glass. “Where are you going?” he asked.

Rin didn’t tense up, not quite. But he didn’t turn around either, and when Haruka stepped into his field of vision, he turned his face away. “Out with some of the guys from the team.”

“Ah.” Haruka sat down on the bed, folding his legs crisscross. The towel draped over his lap, nigh indecent.

“I’ll see you later, kay, babe?” Rin pressed a kiss to his cheek, missing his lips entirely.

Haruka supposed that could be expected, given that Rin was having trouble looking him in the eye.

**August 7, 2016**

“Haru-chan?”

Even over speakerphone, Makoto’s voice was like a fucking choir of angels. It was like mackerel after a week without. Like diving into a pool.

Haruka sank down in the bath so only his eyes and nose were above water. He didn’t say anything.

“Haruka, what’s wrong?” Makoto asked, already so concerned.

Haruka dug his hand into his hair. “Rin.”

“What did he do?” Makoto asked.

Haruka shrugged.

“Haru…”

“Should I have tried out for the Olympic team?” Haru asked.

Makoto paused for a long moment. He sighed. “You know he would be swimming with you if he could.”

 _But he can’t, because I didn’t want to,_ Haruka didn’t say, because they were both already thinking it, so why bother. “It feels different here,” he muttered.

“He’s not leaving you behind,” Makoto said.

Fucking mind reader.

 _He’s cheating on me,_ Haruka didn’t say. Because Makoto would have demanded he come home, fuck Rin and his Olympic dreams and entitlement. Makoto would have confronted Rin about throwing Haruka away too many times, and reeling him back in just as many, baited each time by promises and tears.

Makoto would have _reacted_ , and that’s exactly what Haruka was doing his best to avoid.

**August 8, 2016**

Haruka had watched the prelims alone, but Rin’s mother and Kou found him before the finals for the 4x100 meter freestyle relay and dragged him over to sit between them.

The Japanese team lined up behind their podium.

Something Haruka had always wondered came to mind. “Why didn’t Rin try out for the Australian team?” he asked Kou. “He would have a better chance at medalling.”

Kou looked over at Rin. “He may have gone to school in Australia, but Japan was always his home.” She squeezed Haruka’s hand. “My brother is loyal.”

Haruka’s fingers gave a spasm.

She smiled and elbowed him gently. “Besides, I do not think medalling matters to him as much as it used to.”

The whistle blew, and the eight swimmers dove in.

 

Rin looked at him, Haruka thought later, pacing in front of the bed in their room, too jittery to sit. Even before clambering out of the pool and bear-hugging his teammates, Rin had looked at him.

No matter how angry Haruka wanted to be, he couldn’t help being so damn happy for Rin. Beating the American team, just barely edged out by France – nobody thought Japan of all teams would medal, and for silver no less.

And Rin had looked at him. Scanned through the crowd until their eyes met, and then he had smiled like the sun bursting out from between the clouds.

Throughout the entire medal ceremony, Rin’s eyes hadn’t left Haru’s.

So Haruka paced, because talk about mixed signals.

And then the door opened, and Rin stepped inside.

Haruka turned. Their eyes met.

“Congratulat- _mmph,_ ” Haruka said, as he found himself being tackled back onto the bed and kissed within an inch of his life.

“Congratulate me later,” Rin said, fumbling at Haruka’s belt. “Get your damn pants off now.”

Haruka didn’t need to be told twice. He had his pants off in record time, though Rin probably came in a close second, and then they were rocking together, all heat and pressure and sweet, sweet friction.

“God, it’s been so long,” Rin gasped against his lips. He anchored his hands behind Haruka’s knees for leverage. “I wish either of us were loose enough to fuck right now, but I dunno about you, I’m way too tight.”

Haruka nodded, stretching up to nibble at Rin’s jaw.

Rin made that high, rasping sound that meant Haruka was doing something right. “And I can’t wait that long, gotta come like right the fuck now, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Haruka said, gritting his teeth. He wove his fingers through Rin’s hair and pulled his head back so he could get his mouth below Rin’s ear and suck the taste of soap and chlorine off him.

“But _god_ , I wanna fuck you,” Rin said, like a promise. “Soon, babe, only a little longer, then I can fuck you through the mattress, leave you sore for _days_.”

Haruka made an embarrassing whining noise. He trembled.

“Yeah, baby, come on, come for me,” Rin said, almost a growl. He wrapped one hand around both of them, slicking it up with pre-cum so he could jerk them rough and tight.

And as it turned out, that was all Haruka could take. He buried his face in Rin’s neck and came, just like that. It took only a soft murmur of “I want you to fuck me too” and Rin was spilling all over their stomachs.

They slumped together, panting, for a few minutes. Then Rin rolled off.

“Well, fuck,” he said. “Fucked that one up.” He folded his arms behind his head. “Eh, still lasted longer than I thought I was going to.”

“What,” said Haruka.

Rin rolled up onto his side, facing Haruka. “As it turns out, the trick is avoiding you at all costs. That way, there’s no temptation.”

“What,” said Haruka.

“My taper,” Rin said, like it was obvious. “But I’m really trying to stick to it, so we can’t fuck again until the 13th, okay?”

“Your taper?” Haruka echoed.

Rin sat up and tucked himself back into his pants. He leaned back, resting his weight on his hands. “Haru, I’ve been tapering for like three weeks. Did you seriously not notice?”

Haruka sat up slowly.

Tapering, he thought. _Tapering_. Swimming less, eating less, fucking less. And Rin, with his single-minded dedication, didn’t do anything halfway.

“So you’ve been avoiding me because…”

“Because I’m not a fucking masochist, and seeing you wet and mostly naked – aka, _all the time_ – is really fucking hard to resist.” Rin frowned and brushed a lock of hair out of Haruka’s eyes. “You didn’t know?”

Haruka shook his head.

Rin sighed, scratching behind his ear. “You should have said something. Like, clearly I fucked up here by not telling you, but seriously, Haru, you need to take some initiative. I wouldn’t just ditch you for a week for no reason.”

Haru nodded. He reached out, and Rin took his hand, twining their fingers together.

“Shit, babe,” Rin said, voice rough. “You’re the end goal.”

**August 9, 2016**

“Hiii!” Nagisa beamed, waving too quickly for the poor internet connection to handle; his image jerked around in the blurred screen of the video call. “How’s Rio? How’s Rin-chan? Have you been to any nude beaches?”

“In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the same jump will get an athlete 0.25% higher – greater than 1 centimeter – than in London four years prior.” Rei said. He pushed his glasses up. “If you could get me an autograph from any of the pole-vaulters, Haruka-senpai, I would greatly appreciate it.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun,” Makoto said. His eyes were soft and pleased.

**August 10, 2016**

“You are an evil, evil man, Nanase,” Rin said. The door slammed behind him on his way out.

Unconcerned, Haruka picked up the swim trunks he would wear for the day. But really, he’d had to try them all on, just to be sure.

**August 11, 2016**

“Are you coming to see the prelims?” Kou asked from the poolside, balanced in a crouch on the balls of her feet to keep her skirt from dragging along the wet ground.

“Wasn’t planning to.” Haruka said, eyes closed, drifting aimlessly.

“But…” Kou chewed on her lip. “What if they don’t…?”

Haruka raised one eyebrow.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she laughed. “We’ll save a spot for you at the finals tomorrow.”

“See you there,” he said.

**August 12, 2016**

“If you don’t want it, I’m sure Nagisa would love to take it off your hands,” Haruka said, snapping a picture of the medal with his cell phone and sending it to Makoto, as promised.

“Stay away from my medal!” Rin shouted from the bathroom. He emerged with shaving lather covering his arms and legs, with one wayward splotch high up on his cheekbone. “I didn’t say I didn’t want it. I just think we could have done better than bronze.”

“Apparently not,” Haruka said.

“Not we, we,” Rin said.

Haruka looked at him.

Rin rolled his eyes. “Not _we_ ,” he said, underlining the Japanese national team logo embroidered on the back of his track jacket. “ _We_.” He gestured between himself and Haruka.

“Oh.” Haruka said.

Rin went back into the bathroom. His voice echoed off the tile floor, audible over the running faucet as he resumed his shaving ritual. “I mean, shit, the 4x100 medley relay is kind of our thing.”

Haruka listened to the sound of rushing water.

“Now I’ve just got one more chance to get gold.” Rin’s voice went quieter, so Haruka had to strain to hear him. “And I know the 100 meter butterfly is my event, but… This is the Olympics. It’s _everyone’s_ event.”

Haruka slipped into the bathroom behind him. He pressed his forehead between Rin’s shoulder blades.

“Yeah,” Rin said. “You’re right.”

**August 13, 2016**

Haruka was sitting on the steps of the hotel when Rin returned from the medal ceremony. He looked up when he heard footsteps, and there was Rin, silhouetted against the fading light of the sun.

“Hey,” Haruka said.

“If you don’t get up right now I will fuck you on the ground and the IOC is gonna fine me for bringing even more attention to how much ass Olympians get in the village,” Rin said, all in one breath.

Haruka stood up and stretched.

Rin grabbed his hand and yanked, dragging him through the doors and across the lobby of the hotel at a brisk pace.

Not brisk enough, though, because Rin turned his head and hissed, “Can’t you walk any faster than that?”

“You try running with a plug up your –“

“Oh Christ,” Rin groaned, clapping a hand over his mouth. “Are you trying to kill me, Haru?”

Haruka shrugged.

 

As soon as the door was shut and locked behind them, Rin was tearing at Haruka’s clothing, tugging at his t-shirt with such force that Haruka could feel the seams popping. He batted Rin’s hands away and stripped himself, sitting down on the edge of the bed when he was fully naked.

Rin started to follow suit, but paused when Haruka towed him over with a hand on Rin’s hip. “Get naked, but leave the medal on,” Haruka said.

Rin moaned and obeyed.

“Actually, you should tie me to the headboard with your medals.” Haruka looked down at his wrists thoughtfully. “You have three of them, right?”

“Seriously, you’re gonna fucking kill me,” Rin said. He tumbled Haruka onto his back. “Next time, I promise.” He dug around in the pocket of his abandoned jacket. “They only have normal condoms because apparently colored condoms tear easier or something? But check it out.” He brandished a handful of colorful packets. “Flavored lubes.”

Haruka settled back onto his elbows. “Do they have –”

“Sorry babe, no mackerel,” Rin said with a toothy grin.

Haru just looked at him.

Rin ripped open the packet of lube and squeezed some onto his fingers. “But yes, I did find pineapple, you freakin’ weirdo.” He traced his fingers around Haruka’s opening, eyes going molten hot when he found that Haru hadn’t been kidding about the butt plug. He eased one finger in alongside it, working it in and out, maddeningly slow.

Haruka hitched a breath. “If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to start without you,” he said, hand straying towards his cock.

“And people always think I’m the impatient one,” Rin teased, sliding out the plug and tossing it to the side. He tore open the condom packet with his teeth, which Haruka _might_ think was cool except for the fact that Rin had broken multiple condoms that way in the past.

Haruka wrapped his hand around himself and stroked.

“I’m hurrying, Jesus!” Rin unrolled the condom around his cock, squeezing the last of the lube out onto his hand to slick himself up. Then he pushed into Haruka in one slow, steady movement.

Haruka tossed his head back onto the pillow. Even with the plug, he was tighter than he’d been in years, which made him bite his lip with discomfort.

Rin seemed to appreciate it, though. He dropped his head onto Haru’s chest, giving a groan from deep in his chest. “Fuck,” he said. “That’s – oh shit, that’s ace.”

Haruka took a minute to adjust. Then he nudged Rin’s shoulder, wordlessly giving him the okay.

Rin pulled out and pushed back in, starting up a slow grind that nonetheless made Haruka’s vision go white. The rocking motion of his hips made Rin’s medal bump up against Haruka’s chest in a rhythm, coming close to knocking him in the jaw until Haruka caught it in one hand.

He traced his thumb over the Olympic rings, captivated by the golden glow.

“One of each color,” he murmured.

“Yeah, I like that,” Rin said between breaths. “Obviously it would have been cool to win all gold, but – fucking Americans always win the medley, and hey, at least I got gold in my event.” He paused, repositioned himself, and redoubled his thrusts back in. “I am pretty awesome.”

Haruka bit his lip, eyelashes fluttering. He cried out as Rin hit his prostate.

“There’s always next time.” Rin said.

Haruka nodded. He lifted the medal to his mouth, tracing over the rings with his tongue.

“Heh.” Rin smiled. “You like the medal?”

Haruka nodded. “Next time, I’ll get my own.”

“Cool,” Rin said, then, “Wait, what?” His hips stuttered to a stop.

Haruka slipped the cool metal between his lips and bit down. But even that couldn’t mask the smile playing over his lips.

“You’re gonna – next time?” Rin asked. He sounded very young.

Haruka nodded. He pulled the medal out of his mouth. “I’ll be your anchor in Tokyo in 2020,” he promised.

And just like that, Rin came.

**August 14, 2016**

Rin and Haru raced up and down the beach until their arms were sore and their backs were raw and pink from the salt and the sun.

The water in Rio, Haru found, felt great.


End file.
